My son is 2 years old & doing great on going to the potty. My problem is that while he's sitting on the potty, his pee goes everywhere but the toilet! I tried showing him to point it down, but he ends up peeing on his hand, (and everywhere else too!). Daddy has tried teaching him, but since I'm home with him & Dads at work, he doesn't get the consistency of learning from Dad. Is he too young to transition to peeing standing up? (he's 26 months) if he can't handle pointing it down while in a sitting position, is it harder in a standing position? I have 3 daughters, & never had this issue with them! lol I need HELP from Mommy's who have potty trained boys! I just don't have a clue on this one! I know they have the potty seats that have the lil cup in front and you attach it on top of the big toilet seat, but he just doesn't like to sit on those. & he wants to sit on the potty all by himself, so those seats don't allow him to do that! Please send me all of your ideas! TIA!!

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So What Happened?

Thank you all for your wonderful & very helpful advice!! I was so excited to see so many different ideas fro
you fantastic mommys!! We are still working on it, and he is doing great with sitting backward on the toilet! Thank you all so much!

Featured Answers

L.C.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 14, 2009

We used a single sheet of toilet paper - float it in the water and tell them to sink it. That way you are not giving them ideas about putting things in the toilet and it is always available - even when not at home. The other thing is that boys don't always train as early as girls. We have 3 boys and they were all different ages!

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T.L.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 14, 2009

I know you have plenty of responses but Ill add my advice.

Sit if in the potty backwards looking toward the tank.

T.

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C.J.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 13, 2009

I started my son on a little Baby Bjorn potty seat which worked great. When he was about 28 months old I moved him to the big potty, but I had to hold it down for him. He finally started peeing standing up this summer (30 months old). I bought him a Peter Potty (it is a urinal) you can buy them at Walmart (online). Within a week he was peeing standing up. Works wonders :).

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L.F.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 13, 2009

Dear C.:

I don't have any boys, but the hint I've heard is putting cheerios in the toilet and telling him to hit the targets. This is while standing using the potty, obviously. Friends say this makes it fun and much cleaner for mommy!

L. F., mom to a 14-year-old daughter

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L.P.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 13, 2009

TUrn him around to face the back of the toilet. It seems they naturally aim better that way. My experience with the seats was the cup made it splash back on them.

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G.A.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 13, 2009

I just trained two kids in my home day care and they are over three. One sits and one stands some times and sits some times. It depends on how high the seat is if it reaches in. Boys are hard to train and still we have some poop issues with one but so far he goes home and does that for the parents. I only had to deal with it once and with reg pants really messy. The other one being a preemie has trouble going poop but got it about potty and doing fine. Some times the parents give him medicine to poop at home. Not sure what it is. He had grow so much from a crawling baby the mom was afraid would not walk and now runs. Smart, learning and talks very adult and clear. Nice sweet boy.I also push their body against the toilet to make sure it does not go on the floor. I always go in to make sure they flush the toilet put down the seat gently and wash hands with soap. G. W

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W.H.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 13, 2009

if he like sitting on the toilet his self, try facing him backwards facing the tank. and turn on the waterfall,sink faucet. when you train him standing up sprinkle in some fruitloops or cheerios and have him 'aim" at them. And when he goes potty award him with a small but safe toy car. boys to me are harder than girls to potty train.When you catch him peeing else where grab him and run telling him no on the otty, that is not the potty. Good luck to you.

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S.M.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 13, 2009

Try having him sit on the potty backwards and either hold on to the seat or to back of the seat so that it is natrually going down. Worked for my MIL with 4 boys and worked with the 1 that I've potty trained!

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L.H.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 13, 2009

Another idea- have him straddle the potty facing it with hands on top of the tank. You can even set some books up there. It angles the pelvis down enough to not make a mess :)
-L. (mom to 2 boys)

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S.S.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 13, 2009

If the backwards trick doesn't work, try spreading his legs real wide, which will make him lean foward and point everything downward.

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A.B.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 14, 2009

We started potty training our first boy in August (he turned 2 in Sept.) I had the same issue with the little potty with the splash guard. we bought the fisher price potty that looks like a frog. It is high enough in the front that it doesn't spay out. The other kind of potty with the little splash guard that flips up or down did not work for him. He would play with it and pinched himself. He can now stand to pee or sit down on his frog potty. He started peeing standing up (sometimes) about 25 months old after observing dad & peeing outside in the grass a few times. The only thing I don't like about the frog potty is the back part of the bowl/seat gets dirty when you empty it. I keep clorox wipes near the toilet & wipe it off when I empty the potty. I also found the best way to get him to pee on public toilets is to have him stand up on the toilet seat & I help him aim it in. I tried getting him to sit, but it scared him (& the public toilets are usually gross & I would have to wipe them down first) I haven't had any issues & it's a lot quicker now that we do it this way. Hope that works for you.

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O.M.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 13, 2009

Try putting a ball in the toilet or cherios and have him aim at it and hit it.

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C.C.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 22, 2009

Let him be a big boy and stand up like Daddy!

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K.R.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 12, 2009

The best way to potty train a boy is to put a handfull of Cheerios in the potty and tell him to "aim and sink them". It works!!! Reward him with a few pennies or something small afterwards and he will be trained within a week!

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K.S.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 14, 2009

I would not teach him to pee standing up until he is pooping on the potty as well, our daycare tought my son to pee standing up before the other and we had major difficulties with tht eother. I would suggest making him clean up the mess, this teaches him the consequences of his actions and continue to teach him to pint it down. Good luck, my problem now with the 4 year old boy is him not paying attention, he looks everywhere but the potty when he goes.

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V.B.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 14, 2009

We sit them facing the lid and it works better. You can stand later as he gets the hang of it. Be sure to teach washing hands every time!

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D.C.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 13, 2009

Put fruit loops or cheerios in the toilet for him to aim at. Works amazingly.

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A.B.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 13, 2009

We just switched our boys to standing up and it is a way bigger mess!
I actually went in to the potty with them when they were first learning (sitting)and told them to concentrate and point thier pee pee down. Almost everytime they stand up it ends up everywhere.

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A.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 12, 2009

I feel your pain..I have one boy in the middle of 4 girls. Potty training was a whole new world for me. My son did learn how to push it down, without peeing on his hands, but we was a few months older when we started. That might be a small part of your problem. Not that he is too young to potty train, just might not be old enough to understand the cause and effect thing. One thing my son did, that does help, was turn backwards on the potty. It makes it easier for him, but it is a pain, cuz we have to take everything off. I dont let him do it when we are out, but at home..whatever makes him happy. He has not mastered standing yet, but I am not too worried about it yet. Hope that helps a little bit..good luck!! ~A.~

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R.E.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 14, 2009

My boys peed standing up most of the time, but they were closer to 3 years old when they did. We had a potty seat they used for pooping that fit into our regular toilet seat and it had a pee guard that stuck up so it would drain into the potty. If he is standing, I've heard of people putting cheerios and such in there to use as targets. I was afraid to do that not knowing what else he might put in there for targets. I got those blue tablet things that you put in the toilet tank that turn the water blue. They liked standing there and making the water green. That fixed it for us for the most part. Just a word of warning though. My boys are 7 & 5. I still have to wipe down the toilet seat, tank, baseboards, trash cans, etc. THey never seem to quite master the aim no matter what!

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B.M.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 13, 2009

My second son had some aiming issues. It was not fun. Targets work. Throw some Cheerios in the toilet and let him try to sink them.

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V.S.

answers from
Dallas
on
December 13, 2009

When you have him sit on the toilet, spread his legs really wide and put him more towards the back of the toilet. Then have him put his hands in front of him for balance, on the front part of the seat. So he is kind of leaning forward. This will make his head go down a little so he will end up watching himself pee.

The leaning forward will naturally aim him down. Unless he is slightly erect (which can happen after a serious nap or in the mornings) there will be no spraying around. The learning to watch his own pee will fascinate him...you can even build that part up (look at the bubbles! or whatever) so he begins to get an awareness of where his pee is going. He is old enough that if he pees on the seat you can hand him a bit of toilet paper to start wiping it up. (Which he won't do well, but it is the habit you are building.)

If you have a round toilet instead of an elongated toilet then you will have more struggles simply because he is not yet controlling his stream and probably won't for another year. But this position really helps.

I've potty trained four boys and my opinion is that until they have an awareness of where the pee is going, you don't want them standing. You want them to learn to watch. Because if they are not watching, it will not matter if they are 7 or 8, they will still look away and pee outside of the rim while standing. (My husband jokes my older boys, "You have to be a man to be able to pee and not look. And you, my boys, are not yet men.")